Wednesday, August 15, 2007

We have been celebrating Father's Day with a get together/lunch at my house ever since I got married, in 2005. I love it - besides my father, who is the star of the day, my brother and sister come too and they are both great people to have around (of course I'm biased. And I don't care). :)

Since I didn't want to make the same old desserts again (the sweetened condensed milk custard is my usual choice), I called my dad and asked what he wanted for dessert - he's not into sweets and not into chocolate, so I had to ask him.
His answer was a big surprise: "I'd like to have that banana pie your mother used to make for me. The one with the "dough snakes" on top".
"Ok, of course, I'll make it".

The thing is...
...

...

...

…I don't have the original recipe. I remembered my mother's banana pie, even in a detailed sort of way, but that was all. No recipe!!!! I started to panic.

My salvation: a recipe for pie crust found in Bon Appetit (July issue) + remembering a pie filling I used to make as a teenager for fruit pies + memories of the caramel banana topping.

My father loved the pie and told me it was exactly like my mom's. Even though I know he said that not to hurt my feelings, there's a smile on my face every time I think of his words. :D

Start making the crust: Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and lard; using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. If making by hand (which I did): pinch and rub flour and fat between your thumb and fingertips (this works well if you have cook hands).
Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add 5 tablespoons ice water and mix with fork until dough begins to clump together, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough together. Divide dough – I used ¾ of the dough for the crust and ¼ for the “snakes”; flatten each part into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Dough can be made 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. If necessary, soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF.
Roll out dough from the center out, lifting and rotating it frequently, clockwise and counterclockwise – I kept the dough wrapped in plastic while rolling it out.
Using the rolling pin, transfer the dough from countertop to pan (22cm/8.5in) and unfold it. Press it gently on the pan and cut off excess.
Blind bake until the crust starts to get golden; remove from the oven.

For the filling: pour 2 cups milk into a medium saucepan. Add sugar and mix well.
In a cup or small bowl, mix the 3 tablespoons milk and the corn starch until well dissolved. Add to saucepan and mix well.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until cream thickens.
Remove from heat, add vanilla and mix well. Set aside to cool, stirring every now and then to keep it free of lumps.

Make the topping: Place sugar in a large saucepan and cook it over low heat until caramels forms. Add the bananas, being careful not to get burned. Stir every once in a while and cook over low heat until the bananas soften and melt a little.
Remove from heat and set aside.

Assemble the pie: Pour the filling over crust and top it with the banana caramel mixture.
Make “snakes” with the remaining chilled dough and place them on the top of the pie, forming a sort of lattice effect.
Bake again, in a 200ºC/390ºF oven, this time for 25-30 minutes, until the “snakes” are baked.
Set aside to cool and refrigerate before serving.

Patricia, when will I ever learn to not visit your blog this close to lunch? This sounds fabulous! And even better is the story of how your recipe came together. Your family is very lucky that you're part of it, my friend.

It's so nice that you put all of that effort into replicating your mother's recipe for your father. I imagine that had to have felt good too. The internet is amazing now with all these food blogs and recipe sites - they're such useful tools for times like this!

Hi Patriciayou made your father the luckiest father. :) You are very kind!Banana pie is so delicious and looks diffirent. I have never tried it before. Also your chocolate chip cookies are yummy..:)Thanks for sharing your recipes..

Patricia, that's such a wonderful pie that you made for your dad. My dad passed away almost 10 years ago now, but he is always in my memory. He loves choc and desserts but he was more into local desserts that my mom makes (& I don't have much expertise making them), so I never got to make any for him. I like to think of my past conversations with my dad and I smile too :-)

Lydia, and I hope that I can make this pie for my kids when I have them. :)

Hillary, it did feel really good, special. Thank you for your kind words.

Kevin, me too!

Anh, maybe in the future you'll be able to make the bread, you are such a wonderful - and Daring - baker, my dear! :)

Pinkeagle, a huge amount of calories. :)

Sarah, thank you!

Elle, he had a huge slice and then took the rest of the pie home with him! :)

Big Boys, thank you!

Ayseyaman, thank you! I'm glad you like my recipes and also to have you as one of my readers.

Sweetie, I'm already a fan of Fridays, but with something sweet they get even better. :)

Nora, I feel the same way about my mom (she passed away 21 years ago). I wish we could have shared more time together, special moments of our lives. But I try to keep her proud of me wherever she is now. Even though I miss her very, very much, I always smile when I think of her. :)

Patricia, I saw your caramel banana pie on Tastespotting and intended to click through, but was reading your comment on my blog and when I clicked through there, ta dah, the pie was yours. Soooooo gorgeous! I can only imagine how wonderful the custard filling goes with the caramel banana topping. I think it was a great departure from the sweetened milk custard, and I'm sure was gobbled up in a heartbeat. I love the elegance and rusticness of the pie.

My dear Patricia, this pie looks delicious. I don't think your father told you so just to be nice. I think it is because it really rocks. My grandma used to make a pie like this with apricot jam and my siblings and I used to call it windows pie because of the pattern. We still call it this way.. We gave funny name to our food.

That is so great Patricia! And I can taste it,just by looking at it! Unfortunately, I can only look on and drool as I am trying to lose weight! I slipped tonight and had a glass of wine, I now want a slice of that pie!

I bet your Dad was thrilled with his Caramel Banana Pie, and even if it didn't end up an exact duplicate of your Mom's, I can tell from the photos that it was a slice of heaven on a plate...it looks amazing! :-)

Truffle, thank you! I used to cook for my father everyday - he lost weight after I got married. :)

Celine, thank you, sweetie! You should know that I feel the same way when I visit your blog. :)

Karin, that recipe sounds so good and quick to put together! Great for unexpected visitors. I think it's a crumble, but I really don't think there's a name for it in Portuguese - we'd call it a pie anyway.

Nicisme, thank you! I agree!

Sunita, I really wanted him to like it. :)

Mallow, thank you!

Bri, that's some nice coincidence! I'm glad you stopped by!The custard is not too sweet, so it balances well the caramel + banana topping.

Rose, I like that name! It really looks like a window!

Julie, thank you for visiting, sweetie!

Tanna, thank you for your kind words, my dear friend.

Anonymous, thank you!

Holler, thank you for stopping by! I need to lose a few pounds, too, so I was glad when my father asked if he could take the remaining pie home. :)

What a wonderful pie! Cooking under pressure always results in great food. I have to agree with everybody else here, that your dad wasn't just being polite it was a great pie. Daddy's don't lie, now do they?

Hello..am gonna try this recipe soon bt need to ask u some things before..firstly do u use US cup or metric cup for ur measurement? i usually measure in gramsand can i omit the lard / vegetable shortening completely? will it be fineand also about how much time did u blind bake the crust.. abt 10 mins like that??

Naailah, I do use American cups for my measurements, but I prefer to use my scale. I'm not sure about omitting the shortening, it might affect the texture of your crust (less flaky, probably). You have to blind bake it until golden, the time will depend on your oven.Good luck!